The Swarm
History Genesis Millions of years ago, before the Ancients took their first steps, the first races bloomed. Across the galaxies advanced races flourished, unparalleled in cultural and technological development. Peace reigned across dozens of galaxies, but this golden age was not to last. The Kraken and Halodos were the greatest and mightiest of the first races. They were the guardians of this era and kept the peace for thousands of years. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever, and eventually due to the short-sightedness of these races, a chain of events was set in motion which could have destroyed all life in the universe! Millions of years ago relations between these great races broke down. Negotiations were failing and war seemed inevitable. The Kraken were more advanced, but the Halodos were far more numerous and many tacticians had serious doubts about the Krakens ability to beat them in a war of attrition. Fearing the Halodos would strike first and devastate their people, a group of government sanctioned Kraken scientists began work on a terrible weapon with which they could destroy the Halodos. A living weapon, which later came to be known as the Swarm by their enemies, was their answer to this problem. Kraken genetics was the most advanced among the first races, and they used their technology to frightening affect. The Swarm was designed to be high adaptive and able to rapidly evolve to counter any threat thanks to millions of tiny nanites inside them. It was vicious, highly resilient, and able to reproduce incredibly fast. Such a weapon would be near impossible to kill so the Kraken engineered them to be comparatively stupid to limit their ability to attack the Kraken until more effective control measures could be discovered. A safety program was built in to allow the Kraken to terminate the Swarm by using a self destruct code in the nanites. They believed this would allow them to stop the Swarm should they threaten Kraken sovereignty. The creature they created was bred for war and war alone. A disastrous skirmish with Halodos forces prompted the Kraken scientists to deploy the weapon without permission from the high council a head of schedule. Just as negotiations began to pick up again, the weapon was deployed against the neighboring Halodos galaxy. Huge cloaked drop-ships deployed the Swarm on hundreds of Halodos worlds across the galaxy. Suddenly, the Halodos were drawn into a conflict against an enemy they knew nothing about, and they cut all ties with the other first races to combat the Swarm on their own territory. By the time the Halodos knew about the Swarm threat, many dozens of planets had already been wiped out, and the Swarm were learning fast, at a rate even the most ambitious Kraken scientist didn't predict. Due to their nature the Swarm were already almost completely resistant to the Halodos' weapons and there were millions of them across the galaxy. Had they responded quickly and not tried to save the planets populations the Swarm may have been stopped, but by the time it was decided that the planets must be glassed over the Swarm had already evolved to the point where they could use Halodos technology! Up until now the Swarm had behaved as the Kraken had intended, but developing intelligence on this level was a shock. Swarm controlled ships were rampaging across the galaxy slaughtering millions but with the self destruct code inside the nanites they were confident the Swarm would never threaten them. What happened next changed everything. Scans of Swarm specimens revealed the nanites inside of them, desperate to stop the Swarm the Halodos attempted to hack into the nanites as a means to stopping them. But the nanites were designed to adapt and resist threats facing a hacking attack they repaired the weakness left by the Kraken scientists rendering both the Halodos efforts and future Kraken efforts to meddle with the programming futile. With their last attempt to save themselves a total failure the Swarm wiped out the Halodos and the rest of the races living in the galaxy. The Swarm emerged victorious. They had evolved to the point where they could enhance the Halodos' technology, and with their superior abilities they became a more serious threat than the Halodos ever were. However, their ships were low in number for the time being. Fearing they would spread and attack the other First races the Kraken attempted to activate the self destruct code but the nanites had eliminated any backdoors into their programming! Terrified the Kraken attacked in an attempt to destroy the Swarm, but ultimately failed. The superior Kraken ships overpowered the Swarm and beat them on all fronts before the Swarm could begin to adapt. Unfortunately, the Swarm were able to realize the futility of fighting, and several ships managed to escape into hyperspace while the rest were slaughtered. Over the next few thousand years the galaxy was quiet again and the first races flourished, but the Kraken silently prepared for the storm which they knew was coming. They had failed to destroy the Swarm and in doing so may have doomed every race in the galactic cluster and beyond. Evolution While the First Races continued to evolve technologically the Swarm traveled through space. Their inbuilt desire to survive sent them into the depths of space. After years of travel the ships arrived in an inhabited galaxy filled with young species. Dropping out of hyperspace the Swarm descended on the galaxy, devouring all resources they spread across the galaxy like a cancer. Planets were converted into factories, huge structures reaching into the sky were built to mass produce ships and armies of Swarm. Driven by the desire to survive they burned the galaxy to the ground nothing was left alive nothing that could one day rise to threaten them survived. On thousands of worlds the terrifying Swarm towers stood, smoke and ash covered the planets as the Swarm grew. The Swarm had encountered thousands of species in their travels none could challenge them. Continuing to reproduce the Swarm now numbered in the trillions with millions of ships. Realizing that a single creature was needed to guide the evolution and adaption of the race to better serve their goal of survival they created an entity, a living computer linked to all the nanites. This being uploaded instructions to all Swarm nanites and ships across the galaxies meaning only a single Swarm would have to come into contact with a threat and adapt for the adaption to be transfered to all Swarm. Every race the Swarm encountered was analyzed if it had a physical superiority it was copied into the Swarm, with the nanites copying the best qualities from all known races the Swarm quickly evolved into a universal threat. Unbeknownst to the Swarm they were being watched by a race of unparalleled power and knowledge. They watched as the Swarm burst out from the galaxy into the surrounding universe, they watched as they eradicated every race in every galaxy, they watched as the universe fell silent until finally the Swarm came to their own galaxy... Unprepared to watch their own galaxy which they nurtured fall they went to war with the Swarm. The galaxy was set alight as planets and races were caught in the cross fire. Far superior and resisting the Swarms adaption this new foe held them at bay but they could not beat them. Attempting to take out the Swarms backbone the Swarms opponent struck the Swarm factories across the galaxies but failed to take out the control entity. Attacking the entity was a fatal mistake as the direct attack enabled it to directly observe the superior technology which had so far been beyond the Swarms adaption capabilities. The Swarm made a massive jump technologically not enough to equal their enemies but it tipped the balance of power forcing their mysterious foe to flee. Unable to beat the Swarm they traveled the universe searching for a way to stop them while the Swarm regrouped after suffering massive losses. Most of their infastructure destroyed they returned to their place of birth to face the only opponents they knew of that could still threaten them. Beaming up the control entity the fleet entered hyperspace and headed back to the First Races... War It happened slowly at first, but one by one the allies of the Kraken and the first races began to disappear one galaxy at a time. These disappearances were spaced apart by several hundred years but it was enough to alarm the weaker races. Only the Kraken knew what it was. The Swarm had returned, and as they conquered more and more races, they evolved and multiplied. No matter what defenses they built, no matter what weapons they threw at them, nothing could slow them down. The Swarm were too powerful, and were growing stronger after each encounter. Even a final alliance between four of the remaining first races failed to stop them. The Kraken could only look on in horror as the universe went quiet and hundreds of races were erased without a trace. Many of the races devastated by the swarm sought refuge in the Kraken empire, the last of the first races. Soon, in the blackness of space, the Kraken were alone... The Kraken closed their borders and revealed a military might few knew about. They had been building their forces for hundreds of years. Vessels had been designed specifically to fight them, but even these were no match for the Swarm. What followed was a desperate war for survival which was lost before it began. The Swarm had accumulated the knowledge of every race they'd ever conquered, and were easily capable of adapting to almost everything the Kraken threw at them. Only the heavy fortifications of their home galaxy held them at bay. The Kraken had built stations across the galaxy to disrupt hyperspace travel hoping to slow down the Swarm but it only delayed the inevitable. Both forces were spread thin across the galaxy, but slowly and surely the Kraken fell to the relentless invaders. They fought system by system but no matter how many ships they destroyed more kept coming, and they came back stronger than before. It was in the final days of the war the Kraken uncovered the secret to defeating the Swarm. Their greatest strength was also their greatest weakness. A weapon was developed as the Kraken fleet attempted to hold back the Swarm from penetrating the tiny corner of the galaxy that the Kraken still controlled. But it was futile to resist and the Swarm broke through the Kraken defenses. The desperate Kraken scientists attempted to finish the weapon but the Swarm found them first and the last chance for victory disappeared as the great enemy shattered the planet. It was only a matter of time after that... Eventually only the Kraken home system remained, surrounded by literally millions of swarm ships. The home system was heavily defended by hundreds of defense stations and warships and the Swarm brought their full force down upon them. In a titanic battle they clashed, and though the Kraken fought valiantly and with honor, nothing could stop the tide and when the Swarm super-weapons entered the system the Kraken could only look on in horror as a legacy that had stood for millions of years was wiped out planet by planet. By the time the Swarm had destroyed the 4th planet in the system the Kraken had lost the will to fight, and in a final act of defiance the Kraken destroyed their own planet to destroy the orbiting Swarm fleets, thus ending the war. The Kraken and the first races faded into the depths of time, forgotten by all, while the Swarm remained in the Kraken galaxy with their numbers severely depleted, awaiting a new foe to conquer. Alone in the universe the Swarm slept. Extermination The Swarm slept for over thousands years following their victory but destiny had far larger plans for them. Thousands of years later the First Races returned. Many ships had escaped the great catastrophe and they had regrouped in the time the Swarm had slept. Seeing that now the Swarm were at their most vulnerable the Jah'Kal attacked the Swarm central control entity. Hoping that their new technology would give them the edge the Jah'Kal launched an all out assault against their enemy. But like the Phantoms thousands of years before the Jah'Kal failed in their attempt to destroy the Swarm control entity. Their survival code triggered the Swarm reactivated their long dead factories scattered across the cosmos and began to spread throughout the universe. All races fled in the wake of the Swarms war of extermination. Feeling responsible the First Races traveled a head of the Swarm saving who they could from the destruction the Swarm brought with them. Driven to destroy all life the Swarm send out ships to the furthest limits of their hyperdrives. Eventually the limitations of hyperspace travel became meaningless to the Swarm as they developed the technology to tear holes in space and time allowing instantaneous travel. Armed with this new technology the whole universe grew to know the fear the Swarm brought. Few races fought back, those that did only served to improve the Swarm defences and weapons. Like a force of nature the Swarm eradicated all in its path. The Wandering Wolf and Milky Way In the late 2040's for the first time in hundreds of thousands of years a ship penetrated the Swarm home galaxy. The Exodus an Ancient city ship carrying the pirate coalition of the Milky Way discovered the Swarm. Its entrance into the Swarm domain has alerted the Swarm to the Tau'ri, a potential threat. It is now only a matter of time before the Swarm come for humanity... Swarm Tactics and technical notes Biology The Swarm are Asexual and each Swarm individual is able to reproduce at a phenomenal rate. Swarm reproduction takes less than five minutes but during this process the Swarm are vulnerable. Reproduction for the Swarm involves the Swarm excreting a sack of biological matter and nanites from it's mouth. This sack of biological matter and nanites quickly develops and expands over the course of approximately five hours until it has formed a fully grown Swarm. Swarm themselves in their present form have both reptilian and Insectoid features. They have two arms and two legs as well as a tail. Their entire bodies are covered in a bony skeletal armor which is soft just after birth but hardens after being exposed to the outside world becoming nearly unbreakable. Bone joints are designed for speed and flexibility. Their head is humanoid in shape but covered in a mask of skeletal armor only their mouth is exposed. As well as their claws and physiological advantages the nanites also form a Swarm weapon attached to their right arm. Swarm generate their own electrical charge from inside their bodies which powers the weapon. Designed to survive in any environment the Swarm can get energy to function from nearly any source. From sunlight, food even from electrical sources. The fact that a Swarm can reproduce every two hours means that Swarm numbers can grow very fast when not being engaged. Production Across their captured galaxies the Swarm also create massive mobile factories many kilometers high to create new Swarm and ships at an even fast rate. With the known DNA sequence of the Swarm it produced sacks of the correct bio matter and nanites using an enlarged Swarm reproductive system to create clones of the current Swarm. Able to produce hundreds of fetus Swarm in the time taken for one in the field to produce one they should be considered priority targets. They also possess ship construction facilities able to build thousands of Swarm vessels a day. One of the first operations of any Swarm invasion fleet will be to land factories on captured worlds rich in resources to build ships and troops. The Swarm also posses ships which serve a similar role code named carriers they serve to replenish Swarm forces who are too far from the factories. Tactics When invading the Swarm typically open subspace tears in key location across the galaxy. These allow ships designed to pass through them almost instantaneous travel between two points e.g. the Swarm galaxy and our own. Upon arriving the Swarm will spread outwards from the focal point eliminating threats and converting the natural resources. They never take prisoners as it's inefficient, though it's likely they will use the Stargate network to quickly conquer the galaxy. Typically the Swarm will send a first wave of a small percentage of their full fleet to invade. This is meant to build a foothold and allow subsequent fleets and the bulk of the fleet to adapt without sustaining losses. This means when the main fleet attacks victory is swift. Technology Technologically the Swarm are beyond any enemy we have ever faced. They are more advanced than the ancients in many area's but lacking in others. Military technology is the most advanced ever observed with weapons designed purely to penetrate shielding as opposed to using raw power, shields able to adapt to weapons and even faster hyperdrives than the Asgard. They also possess technology that's never crossed even ambitious Tau'ri scientists minds. However their greatest strength is their adaptive nature, any weapon we throw at them has probably been used before and even if it hasn't they'll quickly analyze it and neutralize it.